This is very noticeable in the Western mainstream discourse, the lack of any nuance or gray areas. Everything is black or white. Exaggerated so. Every time we have seen such a direction of society around the world and in history , the result ends in violent conflict, even genocide. And I'm afraid the western societies, are rapidly moving in that direction. The whole vax vs unvaxxed thing is a good example of how quickly people went completely mental and became Kraens and Kens over night. Yesterdays neighbor or even family member became mortal enemy. A classic divide and conquer.

Your words reminds me a bit of The Revolution in Military Affairs and Conflict Short of War

[globalsecurity.org]

@Krunoslav The truth is black and white. The nuance is gray and only remains so in the absence of truth.

We may find an enemy within the dullness of nuance, implication and conspiracy but clarity is realized when a situation is black or white. A subjective truth will bring clarity, the clarity of black and white, but as it is subjective it is not necessarily actual. The individual strives for clarity and will not accept anything that is not coincidental with his view, as it clouds his perspective. If his black and white view fails him he may invite contrary data which he will reconcile with his view or he may adjust his view, depending upon how solidly he is set in his view. Older people, for example, tend to be more set in their ways and it is more difficult to change their view of things. Normally, people align with what they think is right.

@dd54 "Now this shit doesn't work on everyone, so that leaves a few cogent rational people to call them on their BS and hopefully survive the melee. "

That's true.

On a broader scale, I can tell you that not all of the world is as crazy as western nations are right now. The postmodernist unreality, the clown world of the west is so out of wack that women of the year are men. OK? That's so far removed from reality, most Americans have forgotten how sanity looks like. And the whole of the world is watching. The covid thing, it has spread around the world, sure, the hysteria was pretty bad. Depending on the country. But woke stuff is not everywhere, its mostly concentrated in western nations as the de facato official religion of the state. Don't get me wrong, China and Russia had their most extreme communist phases and to large extent China is still going trough that. But America is heading into what those countries have been trough. And looking from outside in, most can see where this is heading as those in the west, those with power, are doubling down on it. Its hard to see how this can be resolved by any peaceful means. And if other parts of the world and history is anything to go by, there will be bloodshed before this is over.

@FrankZeleniuk There is a saying for situations like these: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple"

In other words, yes, the actual factual truth may be simple, but understanding all the factors for situations like these is not really that simple, because we have to make decisions and make compromises. There is fog of war as well. There is propaganda. There are far reaching consequence we are not aware of to consider. All this requires mental effort to make sense of the situation and for most people that is too much effort so they stick to what is most emotionally rewarding.. They choose a side and try to reduce cognitive load while maximizing emotional satisfaction. This is not a bad thing per se, its how we are build as humans, but it is rarely a good way to fight a war, even a culture war. And to put more effort into everything requires psychological maturity many simply have not reached. In the past the social media platforms did not exist, so similar type voices were localized, today they go viral for the world to see. And that often can have boosting effect on people who think the same. And leads to social hysteria.

@Krunoslav The invention of the printing press increased the speed of the dissemination of information. We lived through a period of social and economic readjustment at that time and social media has once again brought the masses information - this time at lightening speed.

People that were firmly in control of information dissemination are upset and being exposed as, shall we say, power-mongers. Just as the Priests and Kings tried to put a lid on the dissemination of information back then, so the ruling elite of today are trying to do the same. It is going to be a tumultuous time but we, the masses, must be left to sort through it on our own. Those in power will demand social media be highly regulated for the good of all. There is no doubt there is an instant billionaire class that are feeling their technocratic muscle and chosen to ally with the political class and seize control of the information flows of the world.

@Krunoslav

There is a saying for situations like these: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple"

Then it is not the truth. That quote is an excellent way to bury yourself. The truth is always pure and always simple. The layers of lies that must be peeled away add complexity and will keep the pure simplicity of truth hidden.

@FrankZeleniuk I suppose the big important skills of the future for people will be how to survive and thrive in information war. The culture war.

@FrankZeleniuk I think the saying is pointing out the complexity of human relations. For example we can say that water is wet, but that information by itself in the world of social interactions could be all or nothing. Because there are so many other factors that may prevent it form being implemented in any meaningful way.

For example. The truth is that woman is an adult human female. And yet, this simple and pure truth, is not so pure and simple in the complexity of the relations of the western society today, is it? The fact that it is, may be true for you but it may not be true for someone else, who is insane. And if you are interacting with that kind of people, quickly the truth becomes not so pure and not so simple.

You scale that up to the level of propaganda among nations and whole group of nations like in the case of Russia vs the west. and things become quite complicated. Whatever truth exist, becomes harder to find in the fog of war and web of lies. And I think that is what the saying is point out to... that its all nice and good when everyone agrees on something and it can be easily proven and people accept the proof. But when if they don't.

To put it in another way: “Is it logical that two people can disagree and that both can be right? It's not logical: it's psychological. And it's very real.” - Stephen R. Covey

We tend to see the world, not so much as it is, but as we are, as we are conditioned to see it. And that can make simple truths very complex in the context of human interactions.